


Stone-cold

by tiny_mudkip



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Anyways, Avengers Tower, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Domestic Avengers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Just to make it clear, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Avengers (2012), Sort Of, Stark Tower, Tony Stark Has A Heart, also those stark feels, i headcanon tony to be 38 here bc of the age gap, i just started this so lets see where it carries me, inserting my oc like whaddup, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22928962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiny_mudkip/pseuds/tiny_mudkip
Summary: A month has passed since the Battle of New York, the Avengers are back on the job and a new threat is looming on the horizon. Samira Singh is called to assist them while SHIELD evaluates the new threat, becoming a new Avenger in the process. For now, everything seems calm enough, but will it last? One thing is for sure: Tony Stark is not going to make things any easier.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Original Female Character(s), Tony Stark/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!  
> I just started this story and practically impulse-published it on here - what's the fun in writing something if others cannot enjoy it?  
> For now chapters will be a bit on the shorter side (under 2k mostly, except for the prologue, which is around 500), but I'll work on making them longer. Also, please excuse my English if there's something grammatically wrong, as it is not my native language, and feel free to correct me in anything. That's it for now, I hope you enjoy my work! :)

“Subject 201, 35 years old, average height and weight. Ability to turn both inanimate objects and human beings into stone, as well as parts of herself, plus extensive knowledge of martial arts and weaponry.”

“Makes a mean lasagna, too.”

Nick Fury sent a withering glare towards the subject in question; a young woman who sat at the other side of his office, arms crossed and a sarcastic smile on her face. Her expression did not change, if anything, her dark eyes adopted an amused look.

“We’re not here to play, Miss Singh.” He spoke levelly, meeting her stare with his own single eye. “These are important matters, and you are only here because of a recommendation, keep that in mind.”

Samira Singh refrained from scoffing at his statement, instead losing the smile and adopting a stone-cold face. It was Clint’s fault, her being there, and she still had not decided whether to thank him or push him off a cliff.

Either way, the Avengers initiative had not sounded that bad when Fury had visited her at her run-down apartment, so why not give it a shot, the lone superhero had decided.

“The Avengers are currently finishing their well-deserved holidays,” the SHIELD director carried on, opening a file folder that rested on the table, “but, sadly, there is proof that someone out there is up to no good, and sources claim it is something too powerful for regular people.”

“And that’s why you need the Avengers. Right. But what am I doing here?” Samira interrupted him, uncrossing her arms and resting them on her lap instead. “I hope I’m not just part of some diversity program – including more women on the Avengers or something like that.”

“No.” Fury’s voice was sharp, clearly, he didn’t appreciate being interrupted. “If you allow me to continue, Miss Singh, we need you to help contain this new threat. Sources claim they might be a shapeshifter, so turning him into solid stone would be rather useful to keep him from changing.”

“Ooh.” Now she was interested. “Are they human?”

“Their identity is fully unknown, for now.”

There was a silence as Samira mulled the new information. Joining the Avengers seriously sounded like a lot of work, but then again, her life was quite boring as it is, and she could use the money. Would they live in Stark’s tower? She hoped so.

A question then formulated in her mind, and Samira did not hesitate to ask.

“How do you know this shapeshifter is up to no good? I mean, they could just be some random person, chilling around.”

Fury seemed to think about it for a second, his brows furrowed, and then pointed to the file that had been opened in front of them.

“Engaging in criminal activity with highly dangerous individuals, illegal purchase of powerful weapons… everything is in here. You can read it later.”

“Alright.”

Samira nodded and took the folder, her eyes more serious than when the meeting had started. She was taking a big step in her life, possibly involving herself in dangerous activities and there was no turning back.

After all, what is life without a little risk?

“I’m in, then.”

The head of SHIELD nodded, and it was sealed. Samira Singh was now an Avenger.


	2. Meeting Earth's mightiest heroes

The clear skies of Manhattan made every skyscraper shine brightly, a symbol of the modern world in a modern city, Samira thought. Before her towered the biggest building in New York, gleaming under the midday sun, but instead of intimidated, the newest Avenger just felt excited.

Not everyone got to see what the actual daily life of Earth’s mightiest heroes was like.

“Samira Singh, I’m with SHIELD.” She confidently told the receptionist, who greeted her politely and pointed to the lift at the very back of the lobby.

“Floor seventy-eight, Miss Potts will be waiting there.”

At least the lift wasn’t too slow, Samira thought as it started going upwards swiftly, the clean glass-paneled walls allowing her a nice view of the streets surrounding the tower. Soon enough, the doors opened, and she stepped out, into an airy corridor with white walls and framed paintings.

“Miss Singh, right?” A foreign voice snapped the woman out of her thoughts, and she quickly turned to her right, seeing a well-dressed redhead standing there. She had a professional image, and her smile was nothing short of welcoming.

“That would be me, yes.” Samira returned the smile, shaking her hand. Her skin was white and soft, highly contrasting against the superhero’s darker and rougher hand.

“Pleasure to meet you.” Virginia _Pepper_ Potts withdrew her arm and stood straight, looking towards the other end of the corridor. “Follow me, please.”

“Of course.”

Samira was not too used to such courtesy and politeness, feeling a bit out of her environment there and hoping the rest of the Avengers were not as distant and polite. Nevertheless, she followed Miss Potts until they reached a wooden door, opened by a special key card the woman carried.

They arrived at a clean, but overall bare room. It wasn’t very big, and on the opposite wall was another lift that was again opened with the same special card, which made Samira realize that they were headed towards the private floors reserved for the Avengers. Not exciting at all.

“Mr. Rogers is up at the lounge; he will welcome you and show you to your room.” Miss. Potts said before excusing herself and walking out of the room. Apparently, she had better things to do than dealing with hero matters.

She didn’t blame her. After all, Pepper Potts was not the secretary of the Avengers, and Samira appreciated enough the kind gesture of the woman in showing her around on her first day.

The “lounge” was in floor eighty-two, and Samira felt a tiny spark of nervousness coiling at the bottom of her stomach, making her heart pound slightly faster than usual. The dark-haired superhero was not one to usually lose her cool and get anxious over the smallest things, but even she was a little intimidated by the Avengers.

Would they accept her as one of them?

Samira did not have time to dwell more on the subject, since the lift suddenly halted and the doors opened, an incorporeal voice laced with a British accent announcing that it was, in fact, floor number eighty-two. She had arrived at her destination.

Her destination was a huge, tastefully decorated space with a flat-screen television, state of the art furniture and glass windows at the further end, from where a beautiful view of Manhattan could be seen. In one of the comfortable sofas was a man, and she instantly recognized him.

“You must be Samira Singh,” he immediately stood up, a smile almost as big as his muscles appearing on his face, “Coulson told us about your arrival.”

“Glad to meet you, Captain America.” Samira shook the blonde’s hand, smiling up at him as well.

“Just call me Steve.” He replied, looking somewhat flustered. She already liked him, he was welcoming and overall nice – just what a team leader needed to be, apart from invincible, intelligent and stoic.

Steve led her further into the room, talking about the disposition of the tower and the rooms, who was she sharing a floor with, where the training center was, that sort of thing. He did not give her a tour, since it was all too much and she would eventually learn it.

“Only three out of the six Avengers are actually at the tower,” Steve started once the floor explanation was over and they had sat down in a couple sofas. “Nat and Clint are out, and Thor is still in Asgard. You can find Stark at his workshop, Banner at his lab and, well, I am here.”

At the mention of her long-time friend, Samira perked up, having hoped to see him sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, Steve did not have any information about his whereabouts, probably something related to SHIELD, so she would just have to wait.

“Thank you for all the explanations, Captain.” She spoke once they fell into a comfortable silence, standing up from her seat. “I think I’m going to rest for a little now – get used to my room and stuff.”

“Of course.” Steve nodded, and was so kind as to show her the way to her room.

Once she was alone, Samira breathed out in exhaustion. All the nerves from before had taken a toll on her, as well as the shock of a new environment, and even though it wasn’t even two o’clock, she felt like she needed to rest for a while.

Her room was plain, but modern, something she could get used to. There was a blatant lack of personalization in it, but Samira didn’t have a problem with it; she would just bring some pictures and personal items from her apartment, for the time being.

Lying on the bed, she decided to close her eyes for a little while. Nothing wrong with taking a nap in the middle of the day, right?

***

“You’re going to wake her up, we don’t know how rash her temper is.”

“Nah, don’t worry. She loves me.”

“I’m not responsible for anything that happens, then.”

Not-so-hushed voices woke Samira from her restful nap. She blearily opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times before realizing where she was and fully incorporating, one hand brushing her hair back while the other picked her phone from the bedside table to see what the time was.

Five minutes to four. Not bad.

It was then when she noticed that whatever had woken her up had stopped, but the silence only gave it away more, and her eyes turned to the half-open door. There, a familiar blonde was leaning on the doorframe, smirking at her.

“Whaddup.”

Samira stopped for a second, processing everything, and then her face split into a rare, broad smile.

“You fucker.” She stood up from the bed, closing the distance between them and hugging the man tightly.

Clint Barton chuckled, hugging her back happily. He was exactly how she remembered him, even if five years had passed since the last time they saw each other, and Samira wouldn’t want him any other way.

“I see my recommendation was good for something.”

“Shut up idiot, it was actually my amazing charisma what got Fury to accept me in his little team.” Samira teased back. Her demeanor completely changed when she was around the few people close to her – it was genuine, teasing and friendly at the same time.

The archer let out an affronted gasp at that, breaking the hug and looking down at her with a half-smirk until they laughed again.

“Anyways,” he spoke, making a gesture with his arms, “I know you’ve missed me and all, but there’s someone here who wants to meet you.”

Samira stepped out into the corridor and saw a red-headed woman standing there, her expression impenetrable but not hostile.

“Natasha Romanoff.” She introduced herself with a curt nod that Samira returned, saying her own name in turn.

“I take it you’re partners at SHIELD.” Samira commented, looking between them. They both had that ‘feeling’, as she internally called it, like they were full of secrets and important missions.

“That’s correct.” Clint confirmed, crossing his muscular arms over his chest. “In fact, we just got back from headquarters. Top secret, though, so don’t ask.”

“Wasn’t planning to.”

“Banner and Stark are at the common room,” Natasha interjected evenly, “they’re expecting to meet you.”

The way she stared at Samira gave her an uncomfortable feeling, as if she was trying to figure her out somehow. Well, good luck with that, thought the brunette bitterly.

“Right. Let’s go meet them.” She put on a polite smile and waited for the two of them to lead the way, walking behind them.

Three men were standing in the lounge when they stepped out of the lift, two of them already familiar to Samira. The third, she had a good idea who he was.

“The newbie is here!” None other than Tony Stark strode towards her, speaking as if he was the star of a performance. Samira put on her best stone-cold face, not too fond of the billionaire.

“Mr. Stark.” She regarded him coolly, not even offering a handshake. He looked taken aback for a split second, before regaining his usual confidence.

“Fury left the best parts of your resumé, as always.” Stark winked at her, very obviously hitting on the woman.

Samira didn’t even blink as she replied. “Must have been the only time he did, I was informed of exactly how much of an asshole Tony Stark is.”

There was a low _oof_ coming from Clint’s area, but Stark did not look that much affected. In fact, he was now smiling broadly.

“I like her.” He declared.

Trying very hard not to lash out at him again, Samira just chose to walk past him and towards the person she still had not been introduced to – Bruce Banner, also known as the Hulk.

“Nice to meet you, Doctor Banner.” She spoke to him in a much more polite tone, shaking his hand and everything. Stark scoffed behind them, but again he was ignored.

“Likewise, Miss Singh.” Banner replied with a nervous smile. He seemed glad that Samira did not add any further comments about his alter ego.

Anyone else would have felt out of place in a room full of mighty superheroes but, for the first time, Samira felt like she belonged somewhere.

And she liked that.


End file.
